Del Taco Inc

It was a day after her 14th birthday when Shirlene Lopez started working at a Fountain Valley Del Taco, mopping floors and cleaning tables. Now the 42-year-old executive has been named president of the fast-food chain. Lopez takes control of Lake Forest-based Del Taco from Ron Petty, who will head franchising for Sagittarius Brands, the Nashville company that owns the chain. Founded in 1964, Del Taco operates or franchises more than 470 restaurants in 13 states. * Jerry Hirsch

Some of Del Taco's unsecured creditors are worried that their financial interests will get short shrift from General Electric Capital Corp., which is both the majority owner and largest secured creditor of the now-bankrupt fast-food chain. Creditor concerns were heightened March 30 when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John J. Wilson assigned Del Taco's restaurant leases to GE Capital as collateral for an $11.5-million line of credit.

An overstuffed burrito has become one of the hottest new product introductions ever at Del Taco. While rival Taco Bell has been promoting its miniature-size Mexican food, competitor Del Taco took the opposite tack. In early October, it produced a beef and bean burrito that weighs more than a pound. With a name like "Macho Combo Burrito," the overpacked tortilla has been turned into a rite of manhood by Del Taco.

During a career spent in marketing, Del Taco Executive Vice President Paul Hitzelberger says, he has never found a promotion so packed with promise as milk caps, the round game pieces that kids trade and collect. "I've never seen anything like it," said Hitzelberger, 49. "We're projecting a 30% to 50% increase in sales, which is wild in a category where 2% to 3% is good."

Del Taco and Naugles, two of the best-known names for Mexican fast-food in California, are being combined by one owner who plans to make the new company a national chain challenging industry leader Taco Bell. The combination would create the second-largest Mexican fast-food chain in the United States and the largest in California, with 373 restaurants.

Del Taco/Naugles Inc., the nation's second-largest Mexican-style fast food chain, was acquired Thursday in a management buyout that threatens to resuscitate the taco war with rival Taco Bell. A four-member management group, headed by company President Wayne W. Armstrong, acquired the privately held chain from Newport Beach restaurateur Anwar Soliman for an undisclosed price. Industry analysts estimated the deal's value at $100 million to $150 million.